It’s a grand opening, some friends were going and I had some time – so let’s check it out!

#Fabric Saturdays @ Martin Place Bar

It appears the promoters Syndicate Events and their friends have decided to end the old Kinkievent and go with two separate events next door to each other. Tonight let’s suss out the offering at Martin Place Bar – #Fabric (One assumes the hashtag is silent)

Dress Code / Door Policy:There is no longer a dress code recommended or enforced tonight as per previous events here. Half the crowd was casual and the other half, smart casual. I got in with just a t-shirt, pants and shoes. My friend Marty got in wearing his hat. It would probably be too much to ask patrons to dance to EDM in a business shirt. Or is it?

Entry Fee / Cover Charge:

$20 Full cover charge, and $15 for guestlist entry! Wow, no longer $25 entry? $20 is back on par with other ‘premium clubs’ (barring Ivy/Marquee) but these guys were previously charging $25 for other events. Perhaps people are getting tired of clubbing, or perhaps there is lots and lots of competition. Perhaps they make all the money with bottle service.Perhaps paying $20 for a small venue like Martin Place Bar is more appropriate.

It’s probably a mix of these factors and, in the end, the average tight ass punter wins.

A Monday night dinner takes a turn for the (better/worse) as we accidentally drank too much and decided to go clubbing. The only decent venue that people recommended tonight was.. Scubar. Yuuck!! However it’s been said that it’s good on a Monday, so let’s give it a shot. Here we go!

Scubar Sydney Downunder – Monday night

Mondays @ Scubar Sydney AustraliaAssessment Time: 10:30PM – 12:15AMOpening Hours: Midday – 03:00AMLockout: UnknownAddress: 4 Rawson Place, Sydney central (Next to the YHA Central) Google maps: http://g.co/maps/kz2gnVenue Website:http://www.scubar.com.auPromoter Website: Self promotedOccurrence: Every Monday (The venue is open everyday)Outside Line: There was a LINE outside. Omg, people lining up to get inside Scubar, what is this madness? Line was about 15 people deep and took about an equivalent 10-15 minutes to get in as it was already at capacity.Dress Code / Door Policy: Pretty casual today, most people were casual. Didn’t spot anyone with hats. Thongs are a no no, even here.Entry Fee / Cover Charge: Free all nightGuestlist: N/AInside: Walk downstairs underground to enter the entire scubar. On the left is the bar attended by 2 or 3 people. Standing room and tables for about 40 or so people. In front and to the right is the dancefloor area. Its quite small in comparison to proper clubs, but tonight it seems to be holding quite a number of people to the tune of around 60-100 people.Cloak Room: NoneBar Prices / Line: $5 foster cans. This must be one of the last places on earth that you can buy Foster cans, because I definitely don’t know where else I can buy them. 4x Jagerbombs + 4x Tequilas = $66.

The premise was easy enough among some friends tonight – to have a few drinks and dance at their favourite local, which happens to be The Marlborough Hotel – let’s go!

Crowd shot Underground - 1AM

Fridays @ The Marlborough Hotel (aka The Marly) , Newtown Sydney

Assessment Time:12:50AM – 02:30AM Opening Hours: 10:00AM throughout the day with the underground dancefloor closing at 2:30AM. I think the general ground floor closes at 3:00AM Lockout: None Address: 145 King St, Newtown Venue Website:http://www.marlboroughhotel.com.au Promoter Website: Appears to be a self promoted evening. Occurrence: Every Friday and Saturday night Outside Line: No line upon entry, just a few people catching up on their cigarette break. Dress Code / Door Policy: Pretty much anything within reason was okay. Considering it was winter most people, both men and women, wore casual. T-shirts galore, while some girls wore singlets and jeans – some people even kept their warm casual jackets on tonight. I wore a t-shirt and jeans and casual jacket straight from university – very lazy of me ( there’s a picture of me later )Entry Fee / Cover Charge: Free all night for both ground and underground. Guestlist: N/A

Just walking back from watching the Mardi Gras.. and out of the corner of my eye I spotted – flashing lights!! It’s a dancefloor just above the pub/bar named Strattons Hotel, so against the will of my friends I dragged them over here .. here we go!

Crowd - Strattons Hotel

Dropping by: Mardi Gras Saturday @ Strattons HotelAssessment Time: 11:35PM – 11:50PM Opening Hours: Unknown Lockout: Unknown Address: 249 Castlereagh St, SydneyVenue Website:http://www.strattonshotel.com.auPromoter Website: This was self promoted Occurrence: Unsure, it may be either a weekly or a monthly event.Outside Line: No line outside. Dress Code / Door Policy: Anything goes. People were coming from Mardi Gras dressed up and were allowed to the downstairs pub area. It is assumed that they were also allowed to go upstairs to the dance level Entry Fee / Cover Charge: Free all night Guestlist: None required Inside: The Hotel is a two level affair where downstairs is a normal regular pub. Upstairs is where you want your dance fix – the flight of stairs to the right of the bar lead you to a carpeted room which is probably a dining area during the day. On the left corner is the DJ, the dancefloor area in front of the DJ to hold 20-30 people. There rest of the room is dotted with chairs, stools and tables. It’s like the dance party at the end of the wedding, but its instead very dark. Cloak Room: None Bar Prices / Line: Didn’t drink here tonight. Music Style: Commercial House during the time I was here. Crowd & Ratio: Besides us, it was an entirely young and caucasian crowd. this reflected in the patronage in the pub downstairs, where everyone was also Caucasian but of mixed ages.. About 50/50 but it varied wildly due to the small number of people upstairs. Probably at most 10 people were up here at the same timme. Entertainment: None Atmosphere: Pretty empty most of the time. It was dark as well, so it was okay to go up and dance without being judged too much. Otherwise… wasn’t feeling it. The DJ set was on a set of foldable tables – it was very low key here tonight. Video: 360 of the dancefloor

We were smashed, and just left a 21st Halloween party. Looking for a place to go.. Oh look what’s around the corner – the Retro! Here we go!

Outside line at The Retro Hotel Sydney

Saturdays @ The Retro Bristol Arms Hotel

Assessment Time: Midnight – 1amWebsite: http://www.theretro.com.auAddress: 66 Sussex st Sydney ?Dress Code: anything goes. Every weekend is a theme night.Entry Fee / Cover Charge: Free if you are dressed in theme. Otherwise it’s $20 (or $25)Guestlist: guestlist@theretro.com.auInside: 3 levels of dance. Contemporary at the bottom, Retro in the middle, and old school rnb at th etop. We were only on the rnb floor most of the night so there wasn’t much to review about.Cloak Room: NoneMusic: Dance and rnb, Retro from the 90s, 80s and early 2000sCrowd: 20’s and 30’s crowdAtmosphere: Most saturdays they have themed nights where people come in dressed up, and it adds to the atmosphere. Atmosphere is pretty party vibe like, and the nostalgic music gets you going.360 video: This is of the top level.

A night out with Xav and Storm – The Gaff is apparently the best place to be. So here we go!
Tuesdays : Coyote Night @ The GaffAssessment time: 10:30 – 12:00amAddress: 16-18 Oxford Square, Corner Oxford & Riley St Darlinghurst Sydney.Cover Charge / Entry Fee: $10. You are then given a voucher in which you can use for free entry next time, a free drink or some free food. Pretty good.Crowd: Backpackers and locals. Mixed ages, mixed nationalities due to the inherent nature of the backpacker.Music: Upstairs and Downstairs were a mix of top40, rnb, house, rock and pop.Inside: an outdoor smoking area. Ground floor is a bar, with a dance area in the corner to hold 20. Downstairs underground is a large clubbing area of 2 bars, lounges and a medium sized dance floor to hold about 100 people or so.Atmosphere: Friendly and .. party party party! Since everybody I knew had work the next day – there were only the unemployed or backpackers in this place, and it makes for a pretty friendly vibe. Met up with backpacker friends and we just danced around like mexican jumping beans. This place got very packed, and is unbelievably busy for a Tuesday night. There was basically no room on the dancefloor to dance around freely.Door Policy / Dress Code : Almost anything goes tonight. Mohawks ok.